


Under a New Light

by EllaPreuss



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, First Kiss, Mutual Pining, New Year's Kiss, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 18:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17188481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllaPreuss/pseuds/EllaPreuss
Summary: Beau's been waiting all week to see if Yasha would show up at Tary's New Year's soiree. When she does, she is all the shorter woman can think about.My gift to technicolortidepods for the Critmas Exchange 2018!





	Under a New Light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hikotevettvtkhnyqvlvr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hikotevettvtkhnyqvlvr/gifts).



> Thanks to bboiseux for being my last-minute Beta for this!  
> technicolortidepods asked for beauyasha in a modern AU, and this is what I came up with. I hope you like it, technicolortidepods!  
> (I don't even know what to name this, the title was me being lazy, tbh.)

The thumping of the music becomes hypnotic as whatever drink Beau downed merely five minutes ago courses through her body, crashing and mixing in her blood with the five ones she'd been handed over during the night. The makeshift dance floor is filled with happy, sweaty, drunken people, some of them acquaintances, a few of them friends, but, mostly, just strangers. Everyone wants to come to Taryon's New Year’s. It is common knowledge that his are the most lavish, most extravagant parties of the year. It's a whole event.

A cold hand snakes its way over Beau's exposed lower back, her stomach, tickling her skin. She smiles, turning around to face Jester and the new, bright blue drink she's offering her. A small voice in her head that sounds very much like her mother chastises her, because maybe she's had one too many drinks and she is definitely not in full control of her own actions. But if there was a night to get shit-faced, that would be tonight.

Because tonight she needs it. _She_ is here.

So Beau grabs the fancy acrylic glass Jester holds in front of her and begins to sip from it. Her eyes go about the room, but it's a pretense. She knows damn well where the one she's looking for is. Out of the corner of her eye, Beau sees her off to the side, standing next to their tall pink-haired friend, glass in hand, drink almost gone.

“Yasha looks so beautiful tonight, doesn't she?” Jester screams in her ear, following Beau's line of sight. Her hands come to rest on her shoulders, chin over Beau's skin as she stands behind her back again.

Beau blushes under the dim lights and is glad Jester can't really see it. The roiling feeling in her gut _could_ be from the booze, but she knows that's not the reason why her stomach is churning. Hand on the back of her neck, she steals a glance from the taller girl through the twisting bodies on the dance floor. And has to take a second, regain her breath, because yes. She does look so beautiful tonight. She looks beautiful, always.

Black jeans hug her strong legs, a loose fitting t-shirt of some band Beau has never heard of hanging over her shoulders. First thing Beau noticed the second she saw her tonight is that she did her hair differently. Thrown to the side, over one shoulder, a Viking-like braid frames the side of her head, leaving her neck exposed and making Beau's throat very dry.

And maybe Beau's stare is like a laser pointer —but, really, it's Deuces who whispers something in Yasha's ear— because dark green eyes find blue ones and freeze Beau into place. And it's too late to pretend like she was watching anything _but her_. So Beau smiles at Yasha from among the crowd, maybe her fifth smile of the night, a real smile, one she saves especially for her (and sometimes Jester).

Yasha's eyes go wide and she glances to the side (and Beau giggles under her breath because why would she be smiling at anyone other than her), until her eyes meet Beau's again and those lips Beau keeps dreaming of curve up into a smile of their own, disarming Beau even further.

Beau feels a tug on her wrist, forcing her to look down. Blue painted nails latch onto her skin and, following the hand up her friend's arm, she finds Jester grinning conspiratorially at her. “You should go talk to her. You've been making googly eyes at her for _hours_. Let's go talk to her!” Jester exclaims, pulling Beau forward.

“Jess, Jester! Hold on!” Beau tries to stay put, but she is way too wasted to fight her friend off.

Jester guides her through the mass of bodies (seriously, how many people does Tary know?), never letting go. Her grip is fierce on Beau's wrist and perhaps that is exactly what she needs: a guiding force. A little bit of a push. Beau's liked Yasha for so long, but she's never really tried to be serious about it. Never did anything that could potentially scare Yasha off, knowing where she comes from.

And then, in the past few months, she’d begun to notice a change in Yasha's interactions with her. Something that started to give her a small semblance of hope.

“Here you are, we've been looking _everywhere_ for you, guys!” says Jester.

Caduceus smiles at her. “Yes, I could tell you looked really concerned about us from your spot in the middle of the dance floor.”

Beau stands a little behind Jester, right in front of Yasha, drowning out the sounds of her friends’ conversation. She brings her drink to her lips and attempts to down it in one gulp. But, hmmm, nope. Nope. Bad idea, _baaaad idea_. Whatever Jester gave her is stronger than she remembered, and it burns like a mother going down.

Punching her sternum in an effort to make the burn dissipate, Beau sees Yasha's smile turn into a grin.

_Gods, she's gorgeous._

“You okay there, Beau?” Yasha asks her, laughter in her voice. The flashing colour lights Tary had hung up for the party glow on her pale skin, turning it technicolour.

Beau blinks, once, twice. “I'm… _ahem_ , I'm just. Fuck. That was. _Hooo_.” She tries to blow the fire out, like a pitiful dragon, fanning her mouth with her hand as if that would help at all. At least it garners a laugh from Yasha.

“I think you need some water. Would you like some?”

_I would like for you to keep laughing like that because it is the best sound I've ever heard. And yes, I realize I'm quite drunk, thank you._

“Water? Sure. Yeah.” That sounds like a great idea right about now.

“Okay. Follow me then.” And she turns and starts walking away.

“Wait up! Jess, I'll be-” Beau cuts off, finding neither Jester nor Caduceus next to her. When did they disappear? Yasha is already several feet ahead of her. “Yash, hold up!” she yells, almost running to catch up. And miscalculating the distance between them.

“Huh?” asks Yasha, stopping mid-stride as Beau collides into her back.

“Ow, ow,” Beau whines, caressing her shoulder. She should have remembered Yasha is built like a wall. And oh, the world is twirling. But, wait, there are hands holding her up, and she's pretty sure it's not Jester this time.

Beau opens her eyes, and yep, it's definitely not Jester. She meets Yasha's amused and slightly worried look and feels that lightning travelling through her, just like all the times she gets too close to her. And Yasha is still not letting go.

“You should try to be more careful,” she scolds Beau.

Beau can't help but laugh a little. “Yeah, so you've told me.”

“And I'll keep telling you until you listen. Now come on, let's get you that water.”

Yasha's hands release their grip on her arms and leave a tingling feeling all over her skin. This time, though, she stands right next to Beau, waits for her to walk alongside her.

Something catches her eye, a flurry of movement to her right. Jester, frantically waving her arms in the air to get her attention, turns to making a kissy face while pointing right at Yasha when she sees Beau has noticed her.

Smooth. Very subtle.

“What is Jester trying to say?” Beau hears Yasha ask. She's leaning towards Beau, that fresh air scent that always clings to her invading Beau's sense of smell.

“Uh, I don't know. She's been looking forward to seeing Fjord all day, she's probably saying she kissed him. Or that she wants to, who knows.” Beau shrugs. Better to throw Jester under the bus than herself.

“Oh! Well, Fjord was kinda nervous earlier. He wouldn't say anything about it, but I could tell he was also waiting to see Jester tonight.”

That's news to Beau. “Yeah? I didn't think Fjord liked Jester like that.”

Still looking ahead, Yasha replies, “Then you should try paying closer attention to what surrounds you.”

“Yeah, no shit.”

They reach the bar set up in Tary's living room, a sleek, modern thing that's very Taryon, and nothing Beau would ever buy for herself. Full and empty bottles are off to one side, and a barman they all pitched in to pay for stands behind the bar, making all kinds of fancy drinks. Yasha gets her water and hands it over, encouraging Beau to drink it with a look.

“I gotta say,” Beau starts, “I didn't think you were coming tonight.”

“Why wouldn't I come?”

“Well,” she takes a big gulp of water, looks at her shoes. “You were gone all week,” she says in a small voice. Beau is very aware of how much that sounded like a reproach. She has to work her jaw to release some of the tension that's brewing there because _fuck, that's not how I wanted that to come out._

“What?” Yasha asks, stepping closer. “I'm sorry, the music is too loud.”

Beau grabs her elbow and pulls her to the side, to a less crowded spot in the room. For a second there, she thinks she can sense a shiver travel through Yasha's skin and into her. But then she lets go, looks up, and can't really be sure if she just imagined it or not.

Beau leans in close, wishing she were a little bit more sober to be able to remember all of this clearly in the morning. “I said, you were gone all week and we didn't know if you'd come back in time for the party.” This time it sounds less like a scolding.

Yasha averts her eyes, looking off into the distance. She thinks for a moment, holding her glass with both hands. Looking down into it. “I needed space to think. To clear my mind.”

“I get that. And I was hoping you'd be here today.”

“Yeah?” Yasha looks up.

A beat. Then, “Of course. You're missed when you're gone.”

“I'm _missed_ ,” she repeats, a question behind her words.

The air feels heavy, charged, electric, the proximity intoxicating and, at the same time, sobering Beau up. She's forced to look up into Yasha's eyes, they're that close.

Off to the side, a voice yells, “Beau! Beau! HEY!”

Groaning, she turns to look at Jester waving at her again. Molly and Caduceus stand on either side of her, Molly's eyes gleaming with mirth, Caduceus watching the situation unfold with curiosity.

“What Jester!?” Beau yells back.

Jester frantically points up, jumping on her spot like an over-eager little kid. “Look _up_!”

Molly's lips twist into a wicked grin. Both Beau and Yasha do as Jester said. And, oh shit.

“You have to kiss! It's the rules!”

Fucking Jester, Beau is one hundred percent sure this is her doing, because that little sprig of mistletoe was not here earlier when she was helping Tary get everything ready for the party.

She looks back down, watches as Yasha's face morphs too quickly for her to read anything there. “We don't have to,” Beau blurts out. She tries to give her an out, the last thing she wants is for Yasha to feel forced into something she doesn't want.

“You don't want to?”

That sends Beau reeling. “No, yeah, I mean. What?”

It's hot. Her face is on fire. What is happening. Is she too drunk? No, this is for real. Her heartbeat becomes a flutter in her veins and she hopes beyond hope that her darker complexion helps hide what she's sure is a deep blush blooming on her cheeks.

“I mean,” says Yasha, her voice soft enough that Beau is forced to lean in closer to hear it. “It is the rules. Also, Jester won't stop screaming until we do.”

“Right. Jester. Yeah. No, you're right. Yeah. Let's- mhmm.”

Yasha laughs in Beau's ear and it travels through her bones, makes her close her eyes and commit the sound to memory, and the tingling comes back to life under her skin,

_and Beau feels like flying._

She doesn't see it coming and, in a way, it makes it all the more perfect, to feel the sudden softness of lips on lips, whatever she'd been drinking coating her mouth, the vibration that starts in Yasha's throat echoing in her own. Then, a nip of teeth on her lower lip and Beau's mind jumping ship.

Eyes still closed, she follows Yasha's mouth as she moves back a bit, opens her eyes to find Yasha's pupils dilated.

Beau hears Jester yell out a “Woohoo!”, and Molly join in with a “Fucking finally!” and she's sure Caduceus must be smiling at his friends, but all she can see right now is the woman before her.

“I miss you too, when I'm gone,” says Yasha, and it's everything Beau wanted to hear and more.

This time it's her who asks, in the softest voice, eyes locked onto Yasha's, “Yeah?”

Pale fingers find tanner ones between their bodies, the slight embrace hidden from prying eyes, only theirs to know about. Beau squeezes hard, eyes wide and smile even bigger.

“Yes,” Yasha says, “Always.”

Biting her lip, Beau tries to think of something amazing to say, but her mind is still short circuiting. “That's good,” she manages to say. She takes a step closer, until there's barely space between them, feeling Yasha's comforting presence enveloping her.

All around them, people count down to the New Year. Cheers explode when the clock hits twelve and Yasha smiles for her as she leans back down and suffuses new life into Beau.

**Author's Note:**

> We don't do the mistletoe thing in Argentina, people. So idk, here they do it, jaja.


End file.
